The Black Cauldron
The Black Cauldron | ||||||||||||
Hardcover - USA - 1st edition. |
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The Black Cauldron is a fantasy novel written by Lloyd Alexander and published on 1965-08-05. It is the second book in the The Chronicles of Prydain series, the sequel to The Book of Three, and was followed by The Castle of Llyr.
The book is set in the fantasy world of Prydain which Alexander based loosely on Welsh mythology and follows Taran, a now slightly more worldly youth who is eager to prove himself. Although the Horned King has been defeated, the Death-Lord Arawn has been creating more of the Cauldron-Born, so Prince Gwydion calls upon his allies to take the Black Cauldron from him.
Contents
Personal
Own? | No. |
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Read? | Audiobook read by James Langton. |
Finished | 2024-12-30. |
After finishing The Book of Three, I wasn't in much of a hurry to read its sequel, so it ended up requiring me to re-read The Book of Three, then wait a few months, to finally real this one. Now, I'm not sure if I will continue the series.
Review
Overall: |
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Good
- Taran grows up a bit and becomes more noble and sure of himself which is nice character growth.
- The trap set by the enchantresses is pretty clever.
Bad
- The main characters weren't quite as annoying as they were in The Book of Three, but they still had all their dumb catchphrases and weren't all that interesting either. Many of the side characters were boring or childish.
- The Huntsmen of Annuvin are rather dull faceless villains without much character to them, and it doesn't make sense that they'd be able to waylay various regimented soldiers.
- The time when the group is stuck with Gwystyl is drawn-out and boring, as is when they're talking to the enchantresses.
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Ugly
- It just wasn't all that exciting, believable, or enjoyable, but I'm sure I would have liked it more if I read it as a child.
Media
Covers
Representation
Strong female character? | Pass | Eilonwy is intelligent and capable. |
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Bechdel test? | Pass | Eilonwy talks with the enchantresses about the cauldron. |
Strong person of color character? | Fail | As far as I can tell, everyone is white. |
Queer character? | Fail | There are no queer characters. |
Quotes
— This section contains spoilers! —
- "Morgant?" Taran asked, turning a puzzled glance to Gwydion. "How can there be honor for such a man?" "It is easy to judge evil unmixed," replied Gwydion. "But, alas, in most of us good and bad are closely woven as the threads on a loom; greater wisdom than mine is needed for the judging."
Adaptions
The 1985 Disney animated film, The Black Cauldron, was largely based on The Book of Three, but also included plot lines from The Black Cauldron, as was the video game adaption of the film.
Links
- Books
- Books Published in 1965
- Children Books
- Books written by Lloyd Alexander
- Fiction
- Book Genre - Fantasy
- Media Theme - Adventure
- Media Theme - Coming of age
- Media Theme - Fantasy
- Books I Don't Own
- Books I've Read
- Books Rated - 4
- Books with a strong female character
- Books that pass the Bechdel test
- Books without a strong person of color character
- Books without a queer character